As winter clings to its last hopeful moments before gracefully bowing out to spring, we decided it deserved one final send-off. 9 ways, 2 chain-fastening outerwear pieces — the Bannockbane long coat and the generously voluminous Holyrood jacket — and 1 very important question: is it actually possible to style a jacket that refuses to be subtle?
Let’s find out.
Alexandra’s
When it comes to winter, I mostly think in textures. I get weirdly fixated on how fabrics feel, like if it doesn’t make me want to touch my own sleeve all day, I don’t want it. Corduroy, suede, lambskin leather, cashmere. For me, these are the fabrics that make getting dressed feel… satisfying.
#1
The 2WO+1NE=2 Bannockbane coat is already doing a lot; it’s long, it’s imposing, the shoulders are padded, there are gold chain fastenings marching down the front, and the wool-cashmere blend is plush and beautiful. With a coat like that, you don’t dilute the interior, but you meet it where it stands.
Leather makes the most sense here. Slim leather trousers tucked into equally slim, knee-high boots, so streamlined you almost lose track of where one ends and the other begins. It creates a solid, continuous visual bassline at the bottom.
But because this is midday (we’re not storming a punk concert… yet), the severity needs softening. An ecru silk skirt, worn casually (half-buttoned, left to drape loosely over the trousers instead of neatly tucked) interrupts the leather situation in just the right way. The result, I’d say, feels a little late-’90s Ann Demeulemeester.
#2
One corduroy moment is fun. Two is intentional. Three is… this is who I am now.
So obviously the only reasonable next step was to fully commit to that. Head to toe. The skirt = Black corduroy. The hat, also = black corduroy. Both conspiring beautifully with the oversized corduroy 2WO+1NE=2 Holyrood jacket, which in this context stops being “a jacket” and starts feeling more like the top half of a slightly alternative suit that accidentally makes you look very put together.
Whenever things get this fabric-forward, I like to insert a calm anchor. A high-neck, sleeveless, body-skimming black top is the ultimate stabilizer. It works in the morning, it works at dinner, it works while you’re rethinking your entire life between appointments. Chic, simple and emotionally stable.
Then knee-high leather boots peek out from the paneled straps of the 2WO+1NE=2 Inverness skirt, whilst a leather belt pulls everything together, echoing the texture without competing with it.
#3
There’s something very satisfying about matching hems. The 2WO+1NE=2 Holyrood jacket, is short-ish and boxy, so it only felt fair to give it a playsuit that hits at almost the same place. When you’re dealing with skirts or shorts, that alignment matters more than people admit.
Because the jacket is oversized, showing some leg keeps the whole thing from feeling swallowed. It’s volume up top, clarity at the bottom.
The texture mix (suede, corduroy, leather) make a very simple look feel layered. And when the jacket is buttoned, the playsuit dissolves beneath it, transforming the whole look into a compact, cold-weather mini dress.
Valisia’s
#1
This outfit is a clear homage to my mother’s aesthetic. She was always experimenting - unapologetically so - leaning toward the eccentric, flirting with the flamboyant. She didn’t “tone things down.” She turned them up. Inevitably, that molded me.
When I wear this, I see her.
There’s something distinctly 80’s editorial about it, the kind you’d find in old glossy magazines where the model looked slightly unapproachable and possibly late for a gallery opening. A large cordovan hat, unapologetic in scale. A black cape wrapped around me, dramatic but controlled. Yes, there’s a hint of Zorro but make it fashion. Less sword, more silhouette. A small detail: both pieces belonged to my mother.
Everything is black, head to toe. Severe, almost monastic. And then, the interruption. The flashes of gold from the chain fastenings on the Bannockbane coat. They catch the light in the most deliberate way, breaking the darkness just enough. Not decoration. Punctuation.
It’s powerful, slightly theatrical, and entirely inherited.
#2
For this outfit, I wanted to soften things. To romanticize (blame the current Wuthering Heights mania) the structure and severity of the Bannockbane coat.
So, the solution was lingerie as outerwear. Enter my mother’s nightgown. Smooth silk, fluid and cool against the skin, with just the right amount of lace - delicate, but not fragile. It carries that quiet intimacy vintage pieces have, the kind that feels almost cinematic.
If I could change one thing, I would add a dramatic slit. Just enough to reveal a flash of leg while walking. But we can’t have everything, can we?
So, to disrupt the innocence, to introduce a note of tension, I cinched it with the Aumorfia “Tirante Harness”, worn as a belt with garters. Suddenly the nightgown isn’t so prude. It’s conflicted. Romantic, yes, but aware.
Softness held in place by intention.
#3
This outfit is nothing revolutionary for me. It’s practically my uniform. My default setting. A mini umbrella skirt - because I believe my legs are my best asset, and it would be almost irresponsible not to let them exist publicly. The silhouette is playful but precise; it moves when I move, which is exactly the kind of loyalty I expect from a garment.
On top, a fitted cropped piece from the Los Angeles collection, with leg-of-mutton sleeves (my eternal weakness). Not the theatrical, costume-department version. Just enough volume to carry a quiet morning into a slightly dramatic evening.
And then, of course, the oversized corduroy Holyrood jacket. I will always choose oversized. It’s cool, yes, but more importantly, it’s dominant. It creates structure around the softness, authority around the flirtation. It says, “Yes, there is a mini skirt under here. And yes, I am in control of it.”
This is not an outfit that tries. It knows.
Stella’s
Too much sun, I know.
Why wear 1 jacket, when you can wear 2?
I can feel it in the air — my days of plenty are numbered. The days of wearing blazers under my coat, layering two blazers together and even throwing a shawl over them. The Πύργος blazer is perfect for that. Its shape is inspired by marbles sewn together, creating all those cut-outs. I often use it as a layering piece to add extra texture to an all-black outfit. Here, I’m embracing those in-between days — still winter, but with a touch of off-white in the mix.
I love this coat because it does all the accessorising for you. When open, gold chains create their own patterns as you move; when closed, it forms an abstract tartan-like pattern. I picked up on that with the gold elements in my shoes (my favourite shoes of all time).
Raven black + crow black
When you wear a lot of black, you start noticing its hundreds of tints: coal black, obsidian black, crow black, raven black, asphalt black — you name it. So what I did here was create a “suit” in obsidian black (bermuda shorts and cape) and add a layer of crow black (in corduroy, no less) in between, for good measure. And of course, carbon black for my shoes.
Again, I love jackets that add texture and extra elements to an outfit, while also working beautifully as layering pieces.
I’ve just added a thick gold choker, minimal enough not to overpower the outfit, but substantial enough to elevate it.
The one-layer winter outfit
There is only one thing that is superior about summer dressing compared to winter dressing: when you’re too bored to think, too hot, or in a hurry but still want to look presentable, you can just throw on a summer dress and go.
So, I solved that. During the winter months, you usually need at least two layers. Well, unless you’re using your coat as a dress. It works because this coat is embellished, collarless, and has a sleek, slim silhouette. And you’ll never be cold wearing it as your only layer.
Bisous, bisous
Alexandra + Valisia + Stella